LA's most daring new artist wears a buzzing halo. This young musical romantic weaves together a true "love-sound" that falls between honeyed melody and avant-electronics. Daedelus chops and splices disparate acoustic sources into incredible works of staggering resonance. His production style is very unique; it has a precise impact that will make you wonder if you're dreaming or dancing.

Caught between myth and reality, past and future, Daedelus produces sonic mazes from a studio deep within Santa Monica, California. Crafting waxen wings from his background in live instruments, a young Daedelus began noodling bass clarinet notes, and soon graduated into the covenant of double-bass. After an ill-fated affair pondering classical and jazz, rave paved the way, and a burgeoning record collection fueled Daedelus' artistic creativity, preparing the path to his first full length release, Invention. Inspired by 30's, 40's and 70's grooves, and defying genres such as downtempo and hip-hop, Daedelus gradually begins to venture into the L.A. afterdark.

With a string of releases since then on Plug Research, Hefty, Tigerbeat 6, Eastern Development, and Alpha Pup, Daedelus has refined a style that has no imitators. His live show, which utilizes a custom-built device and software package, has amazed audiences across the US, Europe, and Japan and secured his reputation as one of the most exciting producers in electronic music. He has recently released his new Mush full-length, the fifteen track dancefoor masterpiece, Daedelus Denies The Day's Demise. With a slight tweak to the formula, Daedelus' magic music box has cranked out a project of techno inspried programming infused with Brazilian Bossa Nova, complete with shakers, hand claps, congas, and other mysterious percussion. Of course, the multilayered melding of disparate sounds from far-off times that Daedelus has built a career on remain the focus of each mix. Whether the music reaches you through sweaty club speakers or the refreshing cool of headphones, it will become clear on first listen that this album could only be the production work of Daedelus.

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themselves are doseone and jel. Adam Drucker (doseone), was born in Napa, Idaho. A product of two well intentioned hippie parents whose extremely imagined relationship was unfortunately a half fusion of everything they had feared in their own mothers and fathers respectively. Needless to say the couple did not last, but the son of a one-time glass-blower managed with his ten-mile-a-minute wit, one of kind voice, humor and imagination. His coming-of-age years were spent bouncing around Philadelphia and New Jersey perfecting his MC-battling skills. By the time he moved to Cincinnati in his late teens, he'd developed a unique style and approach that has been unmatched in that circuit since. Even though his talent landed him in a few final-round showdowns with freestyle legends like Eminem, JUICE, and members of Freestyle Fellowship in Cincinnati1s annual "Scribble Jam," dose found battling ultimately unsatisfying. Sitting in his college classes, he no longer found himself daydreaming about battle comebacks, instead he started focusing more on poetry and began applying it to musical form. Jeffrey Logan was born in Chicago to two very Catholic, Detroit natives. His early musical influences were fairly wholesome music like Chuck Berry, Cat Stevens and the Temptations, but inevitably and in spite of his parents' strong religious beliefs, jel quickly gravitated towards hip hop, beats and ultimately to beat-making. Influenced by everything he was listening to, jel became disen-chanted with the school system. In line with early hip hop beat pioneers, jel knew he needed an SP-1200 to produce the sounds he was dreaming about. Without the means to buy one, jel found a job pumping gas at a service station until he stacked enough ends to buy his first SP-1200. With the right equipment, he soon found himself spending most of his time making beats in his bedroom and passing the tapes along to local, Chicago MC's to rhyme over. As his skills on the drum machine progressed and his record collection grew, jel's sound became increasingly complex and distinct. As his musical ambitions grew, so did his thirst for a vocalist that could keep pace with his progression. jel became familiar with dose through his good friend and college radio partner, Kevin Beacham. But it wasn1t until early 1998 when some tapes where exchanged through mutual friend, Mr. Dibbs, that the two realized their potential together. Soon after a few phone conversations, jel started making frequent sojourns from Chicago to Cincinnati to record with dose. The duo's first couple of tracks ended up on dose's first, self-released record "Hemispheres" (1998). Then from April of 1998 to January 1999 they solidified their chemistry, putting the tracks together that would end up on themselves-them (or them-s/t). That same Spring dose and jel, along with Slug of Atmosphere and sole and alias of Live Poets began recording deep puddle dynamics-the taste of rain...why kneel?. Out of that record, the concept of anticon was somewhere born-- whose founding dose and jel would become an integral part of, later bringing them both to the Bay Area. Since then, both artists have continued to push boundaries, producing and collaborating on a range of work far outside the constructs of traditional genre forms. They've expanded their use and understanding of their equipment, as well as perfected their live performances. Their most recent record, " the no music.", involved the use of: an SP-1200, an MPC-2000, a Korg Poly 64 keyboard, some other shit, a Roland VS 880, Digital Performer, a Dr. Sample, various microphones, numerous household items and found objects and sounds. Recently the two of them have also expanded their roles in the group, both contributing vocals and production to" the no music.". They also added Dax Pierson on keyboards, Dr. Sample, Theremin and back up vocals on many of their tracks, and to all of their live performances. Dax is essential in adding syncopation and a real time quality to the tracks. dose has been involved with numerous other projects such as collaborations with Boom Bip, John Herndon, prefuse 73, Buck 65, Aesop Rock, sole of anticon, and HOOD. He's also the front man in the band Subtle and is an essential ingredient in cLOUDDEAD with why? and odd nosdam. jel is also involved in the band Subtle and has produced music for Black Thought of the Roots, DJ Krush, Mr. Dibbs, sole of anticon, Atmosphere and Sage Francis. Their most recent record, themselves-the no music. was released in September of 2002 to much acclaim.

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Liz Janes grew up in a Virginia suburb of Washington D.C., listened religiously to Casey Casem's Top 40 on the radio Sunday after church, then spent her formative high school years sneaking into Philadelphia jazz clubs. She came of age musically in Olympia, Washington, as a horn-squanking member of the Northwest punk-improv scene, but sang only for herself, recording her own songs on lo-fi cassette tapes. Those secret lullabies and gospel tunes remained unheard until, without her permission, Liz's future husband played them for the acclaimed singer-songwriter-producer Sufjan Stevens (Michigan, Seven Swans). Several months later, a full-length album emerged, produced and arranged by Stevens for his Asthmatic Kitty label. Done Gone Fire, Liz Janes debut album, paired her smoky, mellifluous voice with Stevens' distinctive production, arrangements and accompaniment, drawing on blues, gospel, country, jazz and avant-garde influences.

Liz' second album Poison & Snakes documents her growth as a seasoned singer, songwriter and performer; her addictive chameleon voice and unexpected phrasing are set against eclectic and unpredictable arrangements by herself and producer Rafter Roberts, who has also worked with such notables as The Rapture, Maquiladora, and Tristeza.

While Done Gone Fire dealt with her jazz, blues, and gospel influences both thematically and stylistically, Poison & Snakes follows up as a reflection on the American West, from its desert and mountains to the sea, while expanding on the themes of innocence lost in a broken world, and freedom amidst earthly limitation. Liz Janes creates a masterful tension between avant and pop sensibilities, wedding in joyous union elements of punk, gospel and country music.

After working with Sufjan Stevens and Rafter Roberts on her first two full-length albums, Virginia native Liz Janes takes on a collection of dramatically re-arranged public domain songs with Los Angeles based free jazz collective, Create(!).

A lo-fi lullaby of century old blues, folk songs and prayer music Liz Janes & Create(!) adds new wrinkles to well ironed standards. Jump-up jigs have been repurposed as plaintive banjo-led ballads while Biblical slave songs are smashed and stretched into full shack stomp and boogie. Here the work of Charlie Patton, Pete Seeger and the Carter Family are imbued with the spirits of John Coltrane, John Fahey and Nina Simone.

Recorded and produced by Create(!)'s Chris Schlarb in a one room shack without the use of any electric instruments, Liz Janes & Create(!) features some of Janes' most inspired singing. Her voice slithers out from acoustic guitar drones of "All The Pretty Horses" and scrapes its rocky bottom on "Be My Husband."

With nary a trace of irony, Liz Janes & Create (!) open the American songbook and write up their own chapter.

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"[Diane is] my favorite singer-songwriter in all of New York City. I'm so happy to be alive at the same time she is because i get to see her perform. It's her and guitar or her and piano or her and harmonium. Her lyrics are so good, when I play this for people they stop doing everything and are quiet for hours after." Devendra Banhart

Diane Cluck's hauntingly clear voice weaves melodies full of love and pain through her intentionally sparse arrangements of a small selection of instruments. Perfect as they are, any additional instrumentation would be unnecessary adornments on these "skeleton" songs, as she calls them. A classical training and obsession with Erik Satie has instilled a tasteful minimalism. Her recordings have been self released until recently in a fashion similar to the manner in which she records them: deliberate, hesitant and beautiful.Though she has maintained a quiet presence with homemade album art and very limited releases, her extensive touring in Europe and America has furthered awareness while copies of her cdrs and mp3s have circulated in increasing numbers. Cluck performs her intensely private creations with a powerful, emotive voice and a full devotion to microscopic self-analysis. Songwriting this impactful and music this good can't be a secret forever.

"[Some of these songs are] for myself and friends about myself and friends.
to me they're total fidelity recordings-- true documents of how i felt / what i experienced
in a particular time and place. there have been suggestions that i rerecord
to make the songs sound some version of more appealing...
but i'd rather keep flowing / playing in the moment things come out right the first time
even if they are hard to look at / hear in that form those tend to be the forms
which teach me the most about myself / the world...don't apologize for yrself !
be a mess...be whatever...
these songs were important for me to make & record if they're useful / helpful to other people
i'm glad about that !" - Diane Cluck

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Chris Schlarb is a musician, writer, father and husband. He is also the owner and founder of Sounds Are Active, a Long Beach, California-based record label specializing in jazz, experimental, electronic and other progressive musics. In addition to releasing music with a number of different groups, Chris has also released solo electric guitar music under the name Xn. In 2007 he will release the first album under his own name, Twilight & Ghost Stories, a massive five-year work with over forty collaborating musicians.

Along with Orlando Greenhill and Steve Richardson, he co-founded the free form ensemble Create (!) in 1999. In addition to playing in recital halls, rock venues, and as backing band for hip-hop emcee battles, the group has authored and taught the Create (!) Workshops at schools and parks throughout Los Angeles County. In 2004 Chris and fine artist/drummer Tom Steck created I Heart Lung, an outlet for their manic free jazz skronk and drone-fed meditations which Tiny Mix Tapes called "some of the most high energy free-jazz to spit out of America."

A distinct and versatile musician who has performed on the stages of both the BET Black Image Awards and avant-garde stronghold Tonic, Chris Schlarb has performed, recorded and collaborated with Dave Easley (of the Brian Blade Fellowship), Nels Cline, Languis, Sufjan Stevens, Lynn Johnston, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, Walter Kitundu, Freestyle Fellowship producer Omid, Glenn Bach, Noah Phillips, The Mars Volta keyboardist Ikey Owens, Abstract Rude, Dave Longstreth (of Dirty Projectors), Parker Paul, John Kannenberg, Kris Tiner, David Kendall and Half-handed Cloud.

Chris Schlarb will present a unique performance of his solo debut Twilight and Ghost Stories at Next to Last, utilizing other artists from the lineup and various local musicians, conducting them through a series of lights.

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The Circulatory System is W. Cullen Hart (Olivia Tremor Control ), John Fernandes (Olivia Tremor Control), Peter Erchick (Olivia Tremor Control, Pipes You See Pipes You Don't), Hannah Jones, Heather McIntosh (The Instruments) and Derek Almstead (ex-Of Montreal). The project unintendedly came about after the Olivia Tremor Control called it quits. John encouraged Will to finish the demos he had been working on. Their first record was released on the band's own label, Cloud Recordings, in August 2001. It was recorded over many months both at Will's home studio and at Radium Recording Studio in Athens, GA. Among the contributors were Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) and Eric Harris ( Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power).

In September 2001, Will began releasing a series of CD-Rs to have available at shows. Each features individual, hand-made artwork. "Inside Views" (which features a picture of a different bird on each cover) has remixed & alternate versions of songs from the Circulatory System CD as well as more sound collages and experiments.

The band is currently working on their second record.

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DARK MEAT are an Athens ensemble mixing elements of blues, punk rock, psychedelic jams, jazz and Zappa/Beefheart styled explosions. Imagine THE STOOGES meets CRAZY HORSE with killer Stax / Funeral / Marching band horns, wailing gospel-style female backing vocals, ripping guitar leads and free jazz freakouts. Singer/guitarist Jim McHugh and bassist Ben Clack moved to Athens from North Carolina two years ago and met guitarist Kris and drummer Forrest while working together at a downtown restaurant. When second drummer Spirit Bird left town, his chair was filled by cymbal master Jason Robira. The group features a powerful backing vocal ensemble called the Subtweeters (Heather, Page, & Claire) who can rival the vocali ntensity of the earth shaking performances on BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY's classic LP "Cheap Thrills." The group'­s massive horn section led by Charlie (trumpet) and Aaron (trombone) comes across like a Salvation Army mariachi brass band - and with waves of reeds from Jeff, Al, and Becky, the songs become wildly fluid in the exploratory sections. DARK MEAT'­s debut album, Universal Indians, showcases the wildly eclectic outfit at their full-throttle frenzied best.

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Hope For Agoldensummer is a small family living and working in the fine towns of Athens and Atlanta, GA. A junkyard orchestra. An anarchist soul choir. This 3,4,5-piece has spent the last five years traveling the South and creating rusty, gutter angel melodies with a slide guitar, accordion, banjo, jangly percussion, xylophone, singing saw, piano and a few old coke bottles. The defining trait of the band lies in the frighteningly beautiful sibling harmonies of sisters, Claire and Page Campbell.

December 2007 heralds the release of their 2nd album and finds them out on tour. Their first album, "I Bought a Heart Made of Art in the Deep, Deep South", got plenty of big grins from the press, just as their live shows continue to do.

"The music was exotic, ethereal, fragile — full of childlike wonderment. There were spare arrangements with singing saw, xylophone, clarinet, acoustic guitar, strange percussion so much reverb that it seemed to be playing in another dimension, and, at its center, one of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous female voices I'd ever heard. The singer's voice was booming and haunted, and the lyrics were full of mourning, yet also managed to be hopeful and at times even silly. This was summer music about winter themes... I began to hear it in my dreams. It colored the way I looked at everything around me." - Filmmaker Magazine 2006

"Friends, Hope for Agoldensummer are responsible for three of the most beautiful shows I've ever seen and one of the best albums I've ever heard. Their music is folk and pop and country, but not any of those exactly; it's music from a real place (Athens, Georgia) and from that ideal South they're making for themselves and everyone, one that has a lot to do with the "verities of the human heart" some Southern idealists like to tell you about." - Sylus Magazine, 2007

The local ensemble's music is minimalist, but never lacking. The percussion is sparse and inventive, sometimes absent altogether. They sing a lullaby to an aging generation, reminding us of everything important in our lives, and warning us that time is fleeting. – Flagpole Magazine 2005

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A relentless recombinator and savvy songwriter, Geoff Reacher has been chasing a defiantly idiosyncratic electro-country vision for about fifteen years now. His Orange Twin debut is an LED-illuminated haze of caustic, beat driven hallucinations about girls and death soaked in classic country, pre-war blues, experimental electronics and rap.

Geoff maintains a strict ethic of live performance and real-time sequencing which integrates his influences into a raw, immediate whole. His sound is unprecedented: intense, personal and completely distinct from projects of similar eclecticism played by full bands or put together by asynchronous multi-tracking. His arrangements are largely reinvented during each performance, which keeps the shows jumping and the crowds coming back.

Geoff escaped from a small Texas town, lived for seven years in New York City (where he took fingerpicking lessons from folk/jazz icon and Dylan mentor Dave Van Ronk), stayed a while in Athens, GA, and currently resides in Austin, TX.

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"Spencer Kingman is the modest man behind [SPENKING]. His ultra-catchy songs of politics and growing up in Las Vegas are beautifully backed with a lone acoustic guitar." —Rhonda Turnbough, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 2003

"[my record] consists of eight little tangled-up folk songs full of word-play, sweetness, far-away danger, and nonsense. I never intended to record them or play them for anyone but my friends. However, these friends (mostly musicians) were persistent about recording me and offering me shows. I was playing and touring with the band Low Skies (now on Flameshovel Records), being sampled and remixed by Flaspar in Las Vegas, and backing up Brendon Massei on the piano whenever he was in town. After a recording session with Massei at Acme Studios in Chicago, he asked me if I would be willing to record my songs. He had some extra time and some extra tape, and he said we should get them down while we had the nice studio. I complied and played through my songs. It took about 25 minutes and then we went home. Brendon came to love the recordings and played them for friends and visitors. This little publicity train, plus a series of live performances ensured a steady stream of requests for copies. When Brendon (by now playing as VikingMoses) was tapped by Marriage Records for a release, he passed along my record to them, and the idea of a co-release started to take form." - Spencer Kingman

Spencer has since been a part of several touring and recording ensembles, including Dirty Projectors during their New Attitude EP and tour.

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"I have no idea what you're trying to do, and that's either really good or really bad, I'm not sure." -- Jello Biafra on Grampall Jookabox

Experimental sound-collage explorations of genuine Americana songwriting, Grampall Jookabox write folk-esque ballads with mad scientist proficiency - in an end product which they dub "Jungle Folk." Grampall Jookabox is composed of David Adamson and Aimee Brown, filling each and every role in this sonically dense band. Instrumentation is as diverse as the influences, which range from Beastie Boys to Dead Kennedys, Animal Collective to Leadbelly.

The group's songwriter, David Adamson, has been influenced by distinctly diverse forms of music in his Indiana upbringing, ranging from Hip-Hop to Hardcore Punk, Indie to Midwestern Folk; each of which having their own place within Grampall Jookabox. Formerly, Adamson fronted the jammy rock collective BIGBIGcar, whose debut album, released by Standard Recording Company, received praise from songwriter enthusiasts and experimental rockers alike.

The duo of Grampall Jookabox emerged with the explicit goal of creating their own "anthology" of American Folk music, focusing on the strange, dark, and morbid characteristics of turn-of-the-century sounds. The end product ends up sounding like a bizarrely advanced Brian Wilson-from-the-future paying homage to Robert Johnson.

Grampall Jookabox's debut album Scientific Cricket was released July 24, 2007.

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